Losing Focus
by JanetL
Summary: The first two weeks at Dartmouth have flown by. Between classes and their new house Bella and Edward have been very busy... but not too busy for each other. EV/BH Rated M for... you know.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a follow up to Leaving for school and Other Special Occasions. I've been asked to write a little something about school for our favorite newlyweds... so here we go. Hope you all enjoy.**

"I am not going to be scolded for leaving you sleep."

Edward's voice was firm but patient, the way someone might speak with a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.

"Scolded?" I hissed back the arcane word, though in the back of my mind I knew I had been a little snarky… just a little.

"Yes, scolded, reproached, rebuked, admonished…" He continued, indulgently amused. "You didn't even get past your third trig problem before you went face down on the kitchen table."

"I don't like being treated like child." I snapped.

"Then stop behaving like one."

"Excuse me?" I glared at him.

Edward had stepped over the line and he knew it. His eyes widened in alarm, almost like he was afraid. If I hadn't been so pissed at him, I probably would have found that amusing.

There was no two ways about it. We were having a fight… well to be accurate, I was having a fight.

Edward took a deep breath. "You're human," he said too soothingly, irritating me to no end. "You need to sleep."

I cut off my yawn half way through. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

His tawny eyes narrowed.

"Not funny." He growled, finally provoked.

I was going to say that I was tired and to leave me alone, but that would only be a point for his side of the scoreboard. The worst part of it was knowing he was right.

He removed two halves of a Kaiser role from the toaster added mayo, lettuce and tomato to the top, and then slid the cheeseburger he made for me from the frying pan onto the bottom and handed me the plate.

"Dinner." He announced stiffly, still annoyed.

I took the plate and sat it on the kitchen counter so I didn't have to face him. Guilty and embarrassed, I stared out into trees through the window above the sink wishing for one with a hollowed out knot big enough to hide in. In the bright sun most of the leaves were still green, but many had paled, some yellow, others orange. In spite of the warm weather today, you could tell that fall was here.

I felt my husband move in behind me wrapping his strong arms around my waist and kissing the top of my shoulder. I leaned back against his chest so exhausted that I wanted to cry.

"I just hate missing stuff." I said more to myself than him and took a big bite of the burger to prove that I appreciated his efforts.

Edward turned me around to face him. "Now what possibly could you have missed?"

"You." I mumbled as I chewed, blushing and not looking him in the eye. "Plus now we're late."

He sighed and kissed my forehead. "Sit down… please. We're really not that far behind." He took his place at the kitchen table, no doubt hoping I would follow suit.

"You're just looking for an excuse to try to break the sound barrier with the Vanquish." I muttered.

"Hmm… that did not even cross my mind." He smiled, clearly intrigued with the idea.

I would have liked to blame my irritable mood on PMS, on being ill, on anything other than the fact that I had averaged only five hours of sleep every night this week.

I couldn't help it. There had just been so much to do... that I wanted to do. When we came back from our honeymoon to the cottage the family had prepared for us, everything was already in place, from the furniture to my silverware. But as my mother-in-law asked for my opinions and likes when she ordered the furniture for this house, I found myself caught up in the fun of it. I had always been ambivalent to whatever Renee did with the houses we moved into, but I was grown up now and finally out on my own. I wanted to participate in making a home for not just me, but Edward as well.

Edward seemed to understand… more than understand, he embraced the idea. For the last two weeks, when we weren't doing schoolwork, he and I played house. Though he could have easily finished anything I started in about a tenth of the time, he paced himself with me. Together, we unpacked our things from Forks, arrange furniture and organized the kitchen. Side by side, we bought paint, washed windows and did yard work, planting daffodils and tulips bulbs around the big maple trees in the front yard.

Granted things often took longer than they should have. Try as we might, we were both often distracted.

A regular pattern emerged almost instantly. It was hours after I stared hungrily at the back pockets of the jeans hung low on his hips while he cleaned brushes at the sink…

...pressed my lips against his shoulder blade as I ran my hand between him and the counter to unzip his fly…

...that we remembered to close our paint cans and fold up the furniture tarps.

Last Sunday, already on my hands and knees digging in the dirt, Edward lost his focus. He had been sitting on his heels, no doubt patiently, chatting as I crawled around the big oak in the front yard laying out my daffodils. Suddenly he was behind me, rubbing the back of my neck with his nose. He claimed he couldn't help himself, that I just smelled too good. The warm September afternoon wore wonderfully on as our clothes were strewn in the yard and we made love in the soft grass beside the bag of bulbs and the garden trowel.

My foggy mind continued to drift as I lifted the burger again to my mouth. There was just not enough waking hours in the day to be near him… to touch him. I hated missing even one second in sleep….

My unfocused gaze wandered back to the object of my obsessive affection sitting at the table. He looked oddly concerned, like there was something wrong with me.

Crap! How long had I been standing here?

This was ridiculous. I shook my head to clear it and gobbled another bite.

"At least you don't have to finish the rest of your homework," he spoke as if he was continuing a conversation that I may or may not have been a part of.

"That doesn't make it any better." I muttered concentrating on stuffing the last bite into my mouth as I hurried over to the frig to grab the carton of milk."

"I can erase the ones I did for you if you'd like." He offered smiling, rising up from his seat to get me a glass.

"No time for it." I answered to both the glass and the homework. "We have a quiz and you know what that crabby professor's like. I don't want to be late."

I didn't even have time to feel guilty about him doing my homework for me, wasted too much of it as it was preoccupied. I grabbed the milk and took a big swig straight from the carton. Besides, I reasoned, it wasn't like I didn't know how to do them.

Edward sighed and I could sense him rolling his eyes at me. "Honestly Love, we are not that late."

He probably would have saved me from the disaster had he not had his back to me returning the glass to the cupboard. Rather than put the carton back on to the top shelf, in my clumsy haste I glanced it off the edge, knocking it out of my hand. The plastic cracked as it bounce on to the floor, exploding milk all over the frig, the floor… and my jeans.

"Damn it!"

He was at my side in a flash, his lips pressed firmly together.

"Don't you dare say a word." I growled.

I took one step and began to slide. Edward snorted as he caught me about six inches from the floor.

"Does my speaking ban include offering to clean this up while you go change your clothes?" He said standing me upright. He stared at a kitchen cabinet above my head as the grin he tried so hard to suppress escaped onto his face.

"Fine"

He chuckled, finally looking down. Brushing his lips lightly over mine, he lifted me out and over the white puddle.

"…and thank you for not letting me land on my butt."

"You're welcome."

I assessed the situation quickly, pulling off my socks and my last clean pair of jeans in the kitchen so I wouldn't leave a trail of milk following me up the stairs.

This was all I needed, I snarled to myself as I ran into the bathroom, stripping off the rest of my clothes and hopped into the shower to rinse my legs off.

Earlier in the week, this mishap would have been no problem. However, it was Friday and the one thing neglected since our arrival in New Hampshire was the laundry. I had thrown our jeans in the washer after lunch, planning on getting to put them in the dryer before we left for school... then I dozed off, leaving me with none that weren't wet and no time to dry them.

I stumbled out of the bathroom and over to our bedroom closet resigned to a future already laid out for me two weeks ago by my sister in law.

"Why couldn't she just send me a pair of jeans?" I moaned.

Naturally, Alice wouldn't warn me to be careful with the milk, nor would she bother herself by informing me to have spare clothes available. It was too late in the year to get away with shorts so therefore, that left me with two options: sweats or this… dress.

When we departed our plane, it had been lying in the long white box, gift wrapped and leaning against a wall at the airport beside a middle-aged man holding a sign that read "CULLEN" on a sheet of poster board.

The only part of it I looked at that morning was the attached note.

_You're going to need this in a couple weeks,_

_Love, Alice._

I finally got around to dealing with Alice's package late that afternoon. Apparently, it was a birthday present from not just Alice, but Rosalie and Esme as well.

I couldn't deny it was pretty, deep periwinkle linen, princess neckline and sleeveless with a full skirt and a coordinating denim jacket. Of course it came with a compliment of accessories, a gold chain, red flats and a little leather clutch purse.

It was sophisticated yet casual, something that a person would see in a fashion magazine worn by a supermodel pretending to hail a cab, or perhaps a celebrity in large "Jackie O." sunglasses, caught by the paparazzi going to lunch in an expensive cafe... at the very least someone graceful that didn't have black and blue marks on their knees, lacked scars on their forearms and a vampire hickey on her wrist.

In other words, someone other than me.

"The floor's all cleaned up" Edward called up from the kitchen.

"Just give me another minute." I yelled down yanking the thing off the hanger and throwing it over my head.

Hmm... I had barely touched it when I hung it up. As I pulled my arms through the armholes I was surprised by the softness of the lightweight fabric. It seemed to almost float over my skin. This was definitely not something you'd find at your average big box store.

In to much of a hurry to go to the mirror, I could tell without looking it fit like a glove. It felt like it had been custom made for me… probably was, I thought wryly. The only problem was that it closed up the back and after a couple of seconds twisting and turning to get it zipped, I gave up, grabbing the shoes… I would not lower myself to take the handbag… and hurried barefoot down the loft stairs.

"Edward, can you finish zipping this for me?" I asked as I held on to a kitchen chair and stuck a shoe on.

He turned around from the sink and froze.

"I look ridiculous, don't I?"

An strange grin broke out on his face as he walked behind me.

"I am going to have to reprimand Alice." Edward murmured, breathing into my hair.

I shivered as his hands, warm from the dish water in the sink, slowly slid up my bare arms. The other shoe I still held on to clattered to the floor. He brushed my hair off to one shoulder and as I felt the slider inch up my back, his head dipped and his cool lips pressed against the side of my neck. I exhaled loudly, tilting my head slightly aside to give him more room.

"Very naughty of her," he continued whispering into my ear, his arms now around my waist. "How can I be expected to get you to school dressed like this?"

Fingers trembling, I drew the gold chain that came in the box with the dress out from underneath it. I hadn't taken the present from Carlisle and Esme off since I opened it. At the bottom pulling the delicate necklace into a V hung the supposed heart shaped crystal he gave me for graduation.

"So, you like it?" I asked breathlessly, flushing with satisfaction.

"Enormously, Mrs. Cullen."

Turning back to face him, Edward lifted me up and sat me on the kitchen table. He stepped in close, the flowing blue fabric of my skirt yielding and rippling around him like water in a stream as he sandwiched himself between my swinging feet.

His face was a half inch from mine and I could taste his sweet breath on my tongue through my parted lips. The shoe I had managed to get on joined its mate on the floor. Edward closed in for the kill. His nose rubbed against the side of mine. My hand reached back, palm bracing against the table as he leaned forward against me.

_The heck with school,_ I thought, my free hand locking into his hair as my lips moved against his. Legs opened and exposed, but still draped in linen at my hips, there was just something extremely sexy about kissing him here in this dress. Edward's soft seductive growl reverberated in my lungs. Eyes bright and excited, his hand glided smoothly up the fabric from my waist to my breast. The rough texture of his jeans, such a startling contrast to the soft linen, rubbed against the insides of my naked thighs. My muscles in my belly tightened as my knees spread wider to invite him closer.

Oh how I wanted him... ached for him.

My hand gave way under his pursuit. I was flat on the table now and Edward's body hovered above me, my heart thundering joyfully in my chest. I moaned as his lips move lower to my throat. His hands were under the skirt now, fingers curled around the waistband of of my panties. I rocked from side to side on the table, the elastic strained as he began to pull them past my bottom. But as my eager fingers moved from his hair to unbutton his shirt, behavior I recognized, but had not seen in a long time reared its ugly head. Edward's breath caught and his lips froze. My underwear sat crooked where he abandoned it in full retreat, taking my hands in his and pulling back.

"I promised myself this would not happen during school hours." He said, closing his eyes still burning with need as he struggled to control his breathing.

My heels clung to the backs of his thighs not wanting to give up.

"Didn't you just say we weren't that late?" I gasped, squirming beneath him.

With a wistful smile on his face, Edward kissed my wrists before laying them gently on my stomach and stood up. He opened his eyes and looked down at me thoughtful. "Classes would probably be over for the night by time I was done with you."

My heart stuttered at his words, and my lip went out in protest… and defeat. I knew he was right, knew we couldn't do this… not right now.

"You realize…" I paused resigned, sitting up and kissing his forehead. He closed his eyes again and stroked my bare arm with the tips of his fingers. "…that kind of sentence is not particularly helpful."

"I know, believe me, I know."

"I suppose you'll feel guilty if I flunk out," I sighed and hopped off the table still pouting a little. "and then I'll feel guilty for making you feel guilty."

Edward smiled taking my hand again, brought our entwined fingers to his mouth to kiss my wedding ring. His still hungry look made it clear to me that it would not take much to convince him to drop out completely, let alone skip class for the evening. But I could be good for him. This was what he wanted...

I would wait… at least for a little while.

**I loaded this in a thunder storm ****ignoring my own personal safety and the possibility of getting electrocuted**... all for your reading pleasure. You could compensate me for risking life and limb with a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Although the early autumn weather was still pleasantly mild, I activated the Vanquish's heated driver's seat and steering wheel.

Save for the purr of the engine and the calm beat of her heart, it was a quiet ride into school. I had expected her to be stubborn, try to prove me wrong by sitting up bolt straight and pretending not to be sleepy.

As usual, she never did what I expected. We weren't to the main highway before she pulled off her jacket, covering herself with it like and blanket. She kicked off her shoes and coiled her legs up underneath her on the seat, leaving only her pretty little toes exposed beneath the flowing sapphire skirt. Body draped over the consul, she yawned once, tucked her arm underneath mine, then laid her cheek on my shoulder.

I smiled down at her unnoticed, the words of the song _If_ _loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right_ running through my head. Her bare arm coffered my own, its delicate softness bled through my shirt captivating it in heat and submerging the stone skin beneath in bliss. I inhaled her glorious scent, leaned my head toward her and kissed her hair. She sighed relaxing, yawning once and closed her eyes.

In spite of our argument and in spite the weather, I was a happy man.

Certainly the more vexing of the two was the weather. I would have to time my departure from the car carefully when we arrived. Hours before sunset and with only a few puffy clouds for occasional cover, I did my best to ignore the sun. Like the eye of Zoran, it sat low and menacing in the western sky, doing its damnedest to pierce the protection of the car.

Yes, the windows of the Vanquish were tinted dark, nevertheless I still took added precautions. I had the car's visors down. My granite hands hid beneath my driving gloves and a ball cap adorned my head. Before I met her, I would have never considered driving so casually around in this kind of weather.

I assessed that I had only two goals in life, to love her and keep her safe, yet this behavior was stupid, reckless and dangerous. The cognitive dissidence was maddening. As if we weren't in trouble enough, here I was, flouting the rules once more. There was no mercy for those that flouted the rules and it was only Aro's interest in me and Alice... and her that had spared us last spring.

I should have skipped my first class, let her drive her truck into school and met up later after sunset. All I would have had to do was asked. We had picked up the newly painted Chevy at the beginning of the week and I no longer could use its absence as an excuse for letting her go on without me. She would have been more than gracious, acted as though it was no big deal. There would have been only the slightest tightening of her eyes, a trace of sadness... of sympathy for me she would do her best to hide.

It's what I should have done. Responsibility used to be my motto, I thought wryly.

Nevertheless, here I was.

She loved me. Nothing else mattered to her. And when I looked down at her, beautiful, relaxed... and snoring, nothing else mattered to me than to be by her side. I could not even bring myself to feel guilty. I sighed happy and content, proud that we were on our way to school and not sprawled on the kitchen table. As I patted myself on the back for my exemplary behavior, I pushed my anxiety into a dark crevice of my mind that I would do my best to ignore.

With her warm soft body now slumbering peacefully against me, my thoughts now turned to how I handled the other part of the afternoon. I really didn't believe that I had done anything wrong. Clearly she was exhausted. She had barely slept at all in the last two weeks. But was there some way I could have handled it better, made her less angry, figured out a way to get her in bed earlier...

I paused snickering. Getting her in bed wasn't really that much of a problem. Getting her to sleep in that bed on the other hand...

I admonished myself for thinking this way. It wasn't up to me to establish her sleep patterns. She was not a child. The dress she wore made that clear in ways that conjured a host of adult activities.

Sleeping for her meant losing time with me. The idea was downright hysterical. Strewn accross me, she spent most of what little sleep she got with me in her dreams. While her soft voice whispered my name, her fingers quietly determined to explore whatever part of me they came near. Monday night when her hand drifted to more intimate areas of my body, I could not stop myself from waking her.

My apology went over very well.

Increasingly, our mutual desire and cravings bordered the ridiculous. I tried to analyze the situation. It had to be more than just the gnawing sexual urges of my seventeen year old body driven to the brink by her own bewildering want for me. All I wanted was to be near her, smell her, listen to her voice and feel her heart beat against mine. Just thinking about her touch made my body stir.

I would be bothered by this obsession, force myself to put a little distance between us if I didn't know without a doubt she felt the same way. I could see it in her eyes from the moment she woke, this driving, crazy need. At least she didn't have to deal with the fear that gripped me every time I was away from her. There have been so many close calls, too many narrow escapes. My justified paranoia often got the best of me. I was terrified of what could happen to her every time she was out of my sight. Hunting had grown increasingly stressful. I hated being away from her, even for a moment.

"Edward…"

I chuckled and her arm tightened around mine as the car crossed the city line. We were quite the pair.

At the bottom of both our obsessions was the fact that she was still human. As the seeds of doubt about what we were doing sprouted into my mind, I stomped them down quickly. She was happy. I was happy. I needed not to let my fears take hold of me. Hadn't I proved to myself time and time again that I would be safe for her, could be careful with her and still love her?

We had time. I would keep us safe. Alice would know if the Volturi had decided to come looking for us.

"Rise and shine, Mrs. Cullen." I added this fresh wave of anxiety to the growing pile of things I would not acknowledge on this fine September day and nudged her a couple of blocks from school.

"We're almost there?" she mumbled, not fully awake.

"Yes, Love." I smiled.

She yawned and stretched, sitting up in her own seat, her toes feeling around the floor well for her shoes.

I turned off North Main, pulling under a large shady oak fairly close to Kemeny Hall to let her out. I caught her glancing at the clock, her cheeks turning slightly pink. I knew it wasn't chivalrous, but I had to rub it in just a little.

"See? Ten minutes to spare."

"I'm sorry I was so cranky today." She leaned over the armrest again to hug my arm. "I know I need to get more rest."

"It's okay. I have my days too." I smiled trying to repair the damage of my snide remark, dipping my head to bury my nose in her dark mane.

"Perhaps we can spent the weekend in bed." she grinned mischievously.

"Hmm..."

My eyes shifted momentarily to the sun reflecting off the pavement a few dozen yards from where we sat. The shadows were growing long now, but not enough to completely cover the way to Kemeny Hall for our trig class.

"I'll be in as soon as I park."

"I can wait with you." She said brightly, easily, trying no doubt to gloss over the fact that I needed to hide in my car for at least another fifteen minutes.

"I thought you didn't want to be late."

"I know." she dropped her eyes, chagrined again.

"It will take me a few minutes to park anyhow."

"True," she agreed, the corners of her lips finally turning up. "We can't put baby just anywhere, can we?"

"Hey, no dissing the car."

She snickered at my choice of words. I put my best smile on for her, though this was the fourth time in the two weeks since we got here that we had to walk into class separately. "I won't be long, that cloud is coming on pretty fast."

"I'll be waiting." She scampered up onto her knees in the seat to reach me and kiss me goodbye. It started out friendly, the palm of one hand pushing gently against my shoulder to hold her in her awkward position. With my feet still on the brake and the clutch, I twisted my body toward her. But as her lovely mouth lingered, it became ardent, demanding more. Desire and greed overtook me. My gloved hands abandoned the steering wheel, nearly pulling her into my lap as I held her against my chest treating myself to physically feeling her heart thump wildly and erratic against my own.

My mind flashed to an isolated spot nearby. We've never broken in the car. We could be there in minutes...

No! I'm trying to be good!

I tried my best to concentrate, but her power over me was formidable. The clamor of voices in my head silenced as her fingers knotted in my hair knocking my hat off my head. Our breathing grew urgent. She now bared down on me, crushed her yielding pink lips to mine. They parted, as did my own, and I found my tongue being sucked into her mouth.

Please... No... It took all my focus to behave myself earlier and now...

_Later... we would have all weekend_, I desperately reminded myself. But my resistance was waning, my hand was already moving back toward the steering wheel. Could the other one get to the gear shift with her on top of me?

She seemed to come to her senses before I did, pulling away panting.

"You are so tasty Mr. Cullen." She said dazed and glassy eyed, a silly grin spreading over her deliciously pink face.

"Get to class Mrs. Cullen." I growled, shaking my head to clear it. "I'll be there soon."

She giggled, apparently amused by my desperate state and left one last stinging peck on my cheek. But as she went to leave, she paused to look back at me, her own hungry expression evolving to something new. The faint trace of sympathy in her eyes that I had imagined earlier was there as she climbed out of the car. Then she sighed and closed the door, hurrying from me down the sidewalk. I watched using my own vision through the tinted window... still far superiors to the humans surrounding her until she became completely block from view. My right foot abandoned the brake and my palm shifted the Vanquish into first.

I passed by the student lot, opting for something with more shade. Just a couple blocks from campus, I backed into a dark windowless unused alley and shut down the engine. I had paid the owners of the adjacent buildings two thousand dollars each cash to rent it for the next couple months.

As I followed her in my mind, I stared out at the cross street in front of me doing my best to keep calm and get a hold on myself. It wasn't easy. After having her so close, it felt like a poor conciliation prize to continue to track her into the building through the thoughts of a young man several paces behind her. He had the best vantage point, but I should have moved onto to someone else... someone who in my current condition did not make me want to damage them.

I knew who he was. It wasn't the first time that she had caught his attention. He was a regular student, and our trig class was his last of the day. He was in our Tuesday-Thursday Humanities as well and she had literally bumped into him, knocking both their books to the floor as she walked distracted and alone to her seat in the back of the small auditorium the second day of the semester. _That day I had to miss class altogether_, I recalled irritated.

Up until a moment ago, he was thinking about our quiz in trig today... and then he saw her... alone once more. Like me, he also approved of her pretty new dress. He intentionally kept several paces behind her, enjoying the way her it clung to her narrow waist and floated over her over her heart shaped bottom... how the deep blue fabric undulated around her knees with every step she took. He wondered if her long brown hair was soft as it looked. The idea made him a little hard.

I ground my teeth in anger and frustration, a low snarl escaped from my chest as he considered upping his pace to talk to her.

_I wonder where her boyfriend is? _

He hadn't noticed the ring on her left hand, but at least he did remember me. He pictured in his mind the way she looked at me when we would come into the classroom... how her fingers were entwined in mine when we got up to leave. He changed his mind and stayed where he was_. _

It took me by surprise how his thoughts of us together soothed me, sucked the territorial fight right out of me. No, she doesn't have a boyfriend, she has a _husband_. She was mine, this insane woman crazy enough to love the likes of me was all mine. He had good taste, was probably a nice guy. That was all. I would take his appreciable attention. Take it and be happy.

...daylight savings time could not come fast enough.

**Yes, I am a tease. But I promise to make it up to you next chapter.  
**

**And as always, Feel free to review or maybe even give me an idea for something new if you are of mind. I always enjoy reading them.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm trying something a little different this chapter. Hope you like it.  
**

**oooOoooOoooOooo**

The pretty girl I followed into trig went straight to her usual seat in the back of our classroom. She looked around confused for a moment, then sighed, taking off her jacket and sitting it on the corner chair in a way that suggested she was saving the seat for someone... probably that good looking guy that she comes in with a lot.

I had wanted to catch up to her earlier and talk to her as we walked in. She was awfully pretty and the few seconds I spoke to her last week when we crashed into each other she seemed really nice.

It didn't matter, I grumbled to myself depressed. Clearly, that kid was her boyfriend and I wasn't the kind of guy that intruded on someone else's territory.

Maybe it was because I didn't know anyone here other than my roommate that I took one last look at her as I fumbled through my backpack to drop my homework off at the professor's desk. Rich, spoiled and proud of it, Troy left much to be desired. I could barely stand to talk to him. Though blushing embarrassed, this girl with wide brown eyes and matching hair had laughed as our books went tumbling to the floor saying something about how it happened all the time and that Dartmouth should issue warnings when she was on campus. She looked fun that day, like someone I would like to hang out with.

She looked a little unhappy now, nervous today as her eyes cast downward to the empty desk in front of her. I immediately understood her problem… no backpack, no bag, not even a purse… in other words, no book.

The room was filling up fast and I decided to go sit beside her. It wasn't my usual seat but I didn't think there'd be any harm in offering to share my book with her. Besides, boyfriend or no boyfriend, I just wanted to talk to someone. I felt like an loser admitting to myself that I was a little lonely since I got here. Scholarship students from little dink towns don't have a lot in common with the kids who could afford to go here on their parent's dime. She seemed human. I wondered what her story was.

"We can share my book if you like." I offered, sitting down in the chair beside her opposite her jacket.

"Thanks." She smiled shaking her head. "I can't believe I left all my stuff in the car."

"It's no problem." I smiled back

She glanced out the windows on the other side of the room. "Edward ought to be in here soon so I probably won't need a book, but…" she scrunched up her small nose. "you wouldn't happen to have an extra pencil on you for the quiz? I'm not sure when he's going to get here and I know I'll need all the time I can get for it."

"Edward's your boyfriend?" I asked nonchalant reaching into my bag to get her my spare. I knew, but still I had to ask.

"No, my husband." she replied, flushing a pretty pink as her fingers unconsciously began to twist her wedding rings that I only now noticed. "He just got a call from work when we pulled in and left me off so he could deal with whatever it was."

"Wow," I said surprised. "You're a lot older than I thought." It spilled out of my mouth before I could stop and I stared down at my notebook on my desk mortified.

"Oh, I'm only nineteen." I looked up at her, surprised again. She smiled once more though it was a little different this time, almost defensive. I smiled my apology, trying to pretend like being a teenage bride was nothing unusual. She wasn't fooled.

"My parents thought we were a bit young to get married too, but it was what Edward wanted." She rolled her eyes bemused. "I bet half of Forks thought I was pregnant and Charlie… my dad... had his shotgun pointed at him."

I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but it seemed off the way she was talking to me. The girl was looking me right in the eye, yet it felt like she was speaking to someone else, someone sitting directly behind my head.

"Forks?"

The focus of her eyes changed. "It's where we're from. The name has to do with the rivers. The town itself is really small... a few stores, a post office and a couple of million trees."

"I know what you mean." I said, happy to have something in common with her. "I'm from a small town too. Lots of trees, cows and chickens too. Everybody's in everybody's business."

"Yeah, Edward had to work really hard to convince me to tie the knot." She laughed, then she sighed and her face went back to that odd expression. "I hate to have to admit it, but he was right. It was the best decision I ever made."

"I apologize for my lateness." The professor broke into our conversation as he hurried through the open door and dropped his briefcase beside his desk. Geeze... It couldn't have been more than two or three minutes past the regular start time, but you could see he was very unhappy about it. A serious, no nonsense man of few words, he walked over to the wheeled chalkboard and flipped it around. "You may begin."

I handed her the pencil, then tore an extra sheet of paper out of my notebook, "Won't do you any good without this." and settled into my work.

**oooOoooOoooOooo**

Edward strode gracefully into the room, not pausing as he laid both our homework papers on top of the pile at the corner of our instructor's desk. The male half of the class looked up briefly then went back to their tests. The female half followed him with theirs eyes as he made his way to the seat I had saved for him. I growled under my breath.

"Ten minutes." The professor announced to us all, but he had his gaze trained on Edward. My husband smiled back confidently… perhaps even a little smugly, quickly pulled out paper and pencil and began to write. I turned my attention back to my own paper and concentrated on the quiz. Finishing the last problem just as time was called, I sat my borrowed pencil down and peeked over at Edward sitting patiently with his arms folded across his chest, already done.

"Show off." I whispered.

He grinned angelic. "Where did you get the equipment?" He asked quietly for the sake of the boy sitting beside me.

"Um…" I wanted to say his name, but I hadn't gotten around to asking.

"That would be me." The boy offered up nervously.

In the ruffle of papers being sent up to the front, Edward leaned around me. "Thanks. Bella was a little unfocused when she got out of the car."

An embarrassed blush from the memory heated my face, but I was smiling in spite of myself.

"Oh, no problem." My new friend replied looking like he was unsure if he had overstepped his bounds. How silly, I thought. Why on earth would Edward care...

I immediately felt ashamed. If talking to another boy bothered my husband, I would not discount his feelings. Once upon a time, he had reason to suspect me, cause to judge me, and grounds to walk away from me and not look back. Yet he never did. He loved me more than I could ever deserve.

Anxious, I glanced up at his face again. It was sociable and sincere as he laid my book on my desk. I opened it, but my mind wandered considering not just this, but all my bad behavior today. I fidgeted with the chain around my neck as the professor began our next chapter distracted, so much so that I didn't even noticed that class had ended until Edward began to rise from his seat.

"I see that you've already met my wife Bella, but I didn't get the opportunity to introduce myself." Edward stepped around me and held out his hand. "My name's Edward Cullen."

The boy looked as relieved as me and took it. "Tim, I'm Tim."

"Nice to meet you, Tim."

"You too."

"Thanks for the loan." I said awkwardly and handed the boy back his pencil.

Edward smiled at him pleasantly enough, making brief small talk while he loaded our things into his backpack. However, after we said goodbye, he seemed to be in a rush to get us out of the room, taking my hand and hurrying me out the door.

"Good to see you've made a friend." he said walking briskly across the lawn.

Shame washed over me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For talking to that boy." I said breathless as I was all but running to keep up with his quick pace.

"What?" He came to an unexpected stop so quickly that the hand he was holding jerked and I stumbled back into him.

"Isn't that why we are in such a hurry?" I panted, my eyes glued to his chest.

"Of course not." Edward waited until my breathing slowed and I lifted my face up to look at him. "Love, what's the point of coming here if all we do is keep to ourselves and ignore everyone in sight?"

I gazed into his topaz eyes feeling both guilty for implying he was some kind of possessive jerk and yet still a little suspicious that there was some truth behind my words.

He smiled and brought our entwined fingers to his lips."Well, I'll admit I was hoping to find you a girlfriend to talk to," he continued, reading my face, "but he has a pleasant mind."

The guilt of my accusation made my eyes begin to water.

"Really," he pleaded, most likely recognizing I was on the verge of sleep-deprived tears.

"Tim's a good guy. He's a little home sick and just wanted someone to talk to." Edward squeezed my hand and began to walk again. "Besides, he rescued my wife from failing her test."

He truly seemed unbothered and my brow furrowed in confusion. "Then why are we in such a hurry?"

"I just wanted a little alone time with you before our next class." He grinned my favorite crooked grin, picking his pace back up.

I didn't exactly understand that either, but I found out quickly enough. After he half dragged me behind him to Carson Hall, Edward led me to the staircase corridor though our class was on the first floor. As soon as the door closed, he whisked me into his arms and darted up the empty staircase to the third floor his mouth already on mine.

"Edward!" I gasped out, fighting for air around his lips, my eyes darting about the dark stairwell.

"There's no classes up here and we have six minutes." He murmured against my ear as he stood me up on my feet.

"Oh."

The backpack hit the floor with an echoing thud as Edward gently pressed me against the wall, pressed his body against mine. His mouth came back to me, soft but earnest. My heart already hammering loud and hard from our speedy trek across the yard kicked into warp drive as desire took hold. Unlike his careful calm hold on me, I crushed myself into him, one leg lifting from the floor and vining around his thigh. His calm composure evaporated. A low sensual growl rumbled deep in his chest. Edward's kiss became urgent, reeling my tongue into his greedy mouth. Sweet breath filled my thirsty lungs as the hand that held my face slipped down my dress and over my breast.

I knew we should not take this further, but I was on autopilot. My hips started rocking against his. Lungs never recovering from our jog, I was panting near hyperventilation as Edward's lips moved to my throat. His hand drifted further down, taking up the hem of my dress. I felt his fingers, warmed by my own overheated body brush the back of my thigh.

Then he pulled away. My mouth hung open gasping and I reached back to the wall for support.

"Janitor." He grumble, eyes still burning with need.

Then kissed me quickly one last time and sighed. "Times almost up anyhow Mrs. Cullen. We don't want to be late."

_Darn him for firing me up like that._ I thought as I squirmed in my seat two minutes later. The next forty-five were painfully long sitting beside him and not being able to touch him. We should have just went home and not bothered with our other two classes. In spite of the fact that I stared straight ahead at the instructor for our entire Colonial History class, I hadn't heard a single word the woman said. Though I never once turned my head, I could feel Edward's eyes on me and try as hard as I might, I could think of nothing else.

When period was up, I begged and pleaded with him to leave. I rubbed my nose against his shoulder, went as far as lying and said I was tired and needed to go home to bed. But Edward seemed mercilessly determined to trudge on moving quickly once more, only this time making no detours as we left and went straight to 19th Century Poetry without as much as taking my hand.

I glared at my husband irritated, stalking off to the bathroom since he had walked so fast to keep away from me I had the extra time. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to behave... for me. I wanted to pull my hair out. I had invested the entire previous class imagining what dark corner of the school we would spend the break canoodling in and here I was... alone in the bathroom peeing.

Irritation made me no less needy. As I made my way back to our classroom I would resolve to at least have some part of him before I sat down. I walked to the back of the room where Edward sat smiling apologetically. As I turned the corner behind him to take my seat, my hand skimmed his shoulder, then grazed over his ear, before lifting my fingers to tousle his bronze hair.

His body stiffened, he drew in a sharp breath. I grinned pleased, but not sated. At least I would not be the only one sitting here all hot and bothered. His face turned slowly toward me, eyes dark and smoldering.

He whispered one word.

"Keats."

My heart's rhythm became disjointed. Today's lecture... What was I thinking? I took my seat beside him and braced myself for what I knew was coming.

I trembled as the professor began to read out loud, hearing not his voice, but Edward's.

Legs tangled together, I had been lying atop his chest in my usual spot the previous night. It had started as a bedtime discussion of the poet himself, fated to die so young of tuberculosis having never realized much recognition in his lifetime. But somewhere along the line as Edward's fingers gently stroked my spine while I snuggled his neck with my nose, things took a different turn.

Quietly he began to recite.

_Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—  
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night_

My mouth lingered at the edge of Edward's jaw and his hand slid lower down to my backside.

_And watching, with eternal lids apart,  
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,_

He rolled me onto my back. His hard beautiful body hovered on top of mine, one leg between my own, opening me to him. Holding his weight on one elbow, his free hand ventured slowly, cupping my breast for his mouth to taste, before moving lower for his fingers to stroke my wetness.

_The moving waters at their priestlike task  
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,_

Edward paused when his mouth returned to mine. Lips parted, our tongues caressed, sharing in each others flavor. His long fingers slipped inside me, touching me as only he knew how. Moaning into him, my back arched as he ministered to my body. His lips move to my jaw… to my throat. I could feel myself quickening, feel the fire inside me about to erupt.

_Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask  
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—_

His finger curled inside me and I came whimpering his name, tears running down my face. As I convulsed beneath him, Edward's body shifted, his erection lying just outside me. Silent and parting my swollen folds, he was inside me now. Though he spoke no more, the rhythm of his thrusts matched the cadence of his previous words, gentle… strong… loving. My legs wrapped around his torso. His mouth floated just above mine, washing my face in his bewildering scent as he moved. My arms clinging to his neck, I lifted my lips to his, thirsting and desperate for more of his nectar.

His eyes blazed into mine. I began to feel the heat rise again, my body letting go. As my second orgasm lit, his fisted hands underneath my shoulders began to shake. With a final thrust his chest lifted from mine and his orgasm took him, a soft moan, almost a sob escaping his mouth as he found his release.

He looked down at me thoughtful.

_No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,  
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,  
_

_He could barely be heard as he placed his ear over my heart._

_To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,  
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,._

_Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,_  
_ And so live ever—or else swoon to death._

My loud involuntary sigh as the class ended brought me to the attention of everyone in the room. My face burst into flames. Edward snickered like the devil himself as I tried to make it look like I was yawning.

"Getting sleepy?" he said, unable to get the amusement out of his voice.

Overheated and flustered, I got up from my seat unsteady. I found no irritation in me for him, just need.

"You'll get chilled once you're outside in the night air." he whispered holding my jacket for me to put on.

Edwards hand brushed the small of my back as we left our last class of the evening. I flushed impossibly redder as another surge of desire bloomed in my already damp panties just from his touched. Of course, it didn't escape his notice, but rather than show me sympathy and behave himself, his fingers glided up the back of my blazer before softly stoking my cheek as his head leaned to the side and his nose nuzzled my ear. It was all very subtle and casual, perfectly appropriate for two people walking out of a public building on their way to their vehicle to go home. But my knees started to give way and he laughed out loud as his hand shot down to my waist to hold me up as I staggered my way to the car.

**Ah Keats... Hope you enjoyed Edward's recitation as much as Bella did. Please feel free to review and let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

Under the street lights, we walked past the dorms into town to where The Vanquish sat inconspicuously parked a few blocks away.

The last two hours of classes had been excruciatingly sublime. Our brief detour before history had been a mistake. I should have known giving in to my baser needs would come with a price. So close the beat of her heart that I could hear but not feel, I sat through the lecture of William Penn coming to America strung tighter than piano wire. At least she seemed attentive, ignoring me and following the lecture. All I could think of was touching her delicate skin,

...tasting her ripe lips,

...absorbing the heat from her body.

Argh! So close, but so miserably out of reach.

Tensions mounted further for me as she bolted up out of her seat at the end of class.

"Hurry, Edward." She grinned conspiratorially, so eager she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Perhaps we better take it easy, Love." I stood up hesitantly and began to load our things into my bag.

"What?" Her reaction was disarming. Frowning at me, her eyes narrowed as if_ "taking it easy"_ was not something even to consider.

"I don't think we'll get to our next class else wise" I murmured down at her.

She appraised me carefully then smiled."Then _perhaps _we should just go home."

"No." I shook my head slowly and closed my eyes, trying to purge the suggestion from my mind.

My body stiffened as she moved in to pounce. "Please, Edward" she purred.

"It's just one more class."

She stepped in even closer. Blue fabric curled around my leg as she pressed her warm body against my side.

"But I'm tired."

She faked a yawn and, ignoring what was left of the people in the room began to rub her nose against my arm.

_Too tired to stay at school…_ she knew my weak spots so well. I would have laughed if the offer had not been so painfully tempting.

But I was determined to carry on.

"Come on, Mrs. Cullen." I implored, forcing my eyes open to look at her pouting face. "I promised."

Her lip went out. "You didn't promise me."

I turned quickly before I did something rash, picked up my backpack and walked out the door.

"Edward?" I could hear her behind me. "Edward, slow down!"

Grim faced I mapped out a strategy. If avoiding contact would save us, I would just have to endure. I moved swiftly to English, keeping just out of her reach.

It would be only an hour. I could handle that.

…then she would be all mine.

The shame of having to revert to such draconian measures kept from speaking of my decision. I could see her glaring eyes burrowing a hole in the back of my head through people passing by as she scrambled to keep up. Oh, she was mad, very mad. I felt bad, but I had no choice. This driving need of mine had to be put on a leash. I knew my limits and after her wicked exploitation of them, I didn't know how else I could hold out.

She excused herself at the classroom doorway to use the restroom refusing to look at me. I took my seat depressed that I had been afraid to so much as brush my hand against hers remembering wryly that once upon a time, I had felt like this before. But this was so much different now, so much better and yet so much worse. I sat stone still counting her heartbeats, fantasizing on how I would have her when we were through here.

Then anxiety blossomed. Was she angry enough to refuse me? The thought had not occurred to me as I devised this stupid scheme.

I'm not sure if relief was what happen upon her return. A vision of loveliness, the perfect view of the dress and the beautiful body beneath walked toward me. She looked down and smile, turning the corner behind me to take her seat. Her soft warm hand stroked the seam of my shirt, her gentle fingers rifled through my hair. It shook me to my adolescent core.

Then there was Keats…

It was if the author had wrote it with me in mind. One of my favorite poems since we met, it would have been challenging enough to sit beside her, reliving last night alone. But I was not the only one… of that there had been no doubt. Her eyes were forward liked in History, but unfocused, lips slightly parted. As the minutes dragged on, her skin began to flush. Her heart began to beat faster, as did both our breathing.

I stared riveted.

Even from a yard away, I could feel the heat coming off her. Then I could smell it… her arousal. It made the snake in my pants hard... very hard. Concentration became nearly impossible as the image of me lifting that damn dress, bending her over my desk and fucking… yes, fucking her on it sprung into my mind.

Thighs squeezed together, she sat arms wrapped around herself, rocking slightly in her chair. Time came almost to a standstill. Her mouth now hung open and sweat was beading on her forehead. Her pulse throbbed in my ears... faster and faster. As class finally came to a close, I thought for one wild second that she would orgasm right there. I do not know what I would have done if she had.

The end of class blessedly arrived, along with her loud guttural moan. The snake twitched coiled, hungry and ready to strike...oh he had heard that sound before. Every head in front of us turned. Her face burn red, her expression horrified. I nearly lost it. As worked up as she had gotten me, it was the funniest thing I had ever seen, breaking the tension inside me... at least for the moment.

Oh, I was still reeling with need, but I was euphoric._ It won't be long now my friend,_ I assured the snake. Standing up and holding her jacket for her to put on, I patted myself on the back yet again for my restraint and composure, sure that I had earned some kind of reward for all I had achieved today.

Claiming my prize as we left campus for the car, my touch now bordered on the risqué. Arm around her waist, my fingers edged their way underneath her short denim blazer, discreetly stroking the outside rim of her breast. She moaned, this time softly, flushing darker and leaned into me, her own hand finding the back pocket of my jeans.

Finally arriving where I parked in the dark alley, I fished out my keys. Having no real back seat to speak of, I popped the trunk to throw in our books.

"Would you like to stop for something before we head home?" The snake didn't want to hear that, but propriety demanded that I ask.

She looked at me like I was nuts, but then grinned.

"Why yes, Mr. Cullen," she purred and I gasped as she leaned into me, bringing her hand around to my crotch and squeezed, "yes I would."

I pulled her into my chest, my fingers entangled in her hair as I bent over and brought my mouth to hers.

"Just a few minutes more." I murmured, reaching back to close the trunk not quite sure who I was reassuring. "I know a place nearby."

After letting her into the car, I shot around to the driver's side turning the engine over before my door had completely closed.

"In a hurry?" she said fiendishly as I shifted straight into second, then third blowing through two stop signs and a red light. She leaned over the console holding tight against my arm, but her free hand moved to my upper thigh and began massaging in a circular fashion.

"Yes." I answered as calm as I could.

"Serves you right for neglecting me before English."

"It's the dress's fault, not mine."

"Then perhaps I shouldn't wear it again."

"I rescind my previous statement." I smiled down at her. "But I still don't blame myself. I can't help that I am a horny sex deprived husband with a beautiful, but wicked wife wearing a mouth watering dress"

"Horny?" She pulled away from me giggling and I nearly imploded as she hitched up her skirt and pulled off her panties, tossing them into my shocked face.

"Would you please behave yourself," I begged, eyes forward and concentrating as best I could on the road as she began to unbutton my shirt. "How am I supposed to drive like this?"

"You've never been in an accident." She taunted, shifting to her knees to nibble my ear while she yanked my open shirt out of my waistband.

The snake strained against my jeans. I took a deep breath to steady myself fighting the urge to pull over into the nearest parking lot.

"At least put your seat belt on."

"You have not even had a ticket," she murmured into my ear, her fingers slithering down my now bare stomach popping the snap of my jeans.

"There is a first time for everything, Love."

Fortunately for all three of us, the place I had in mind was just a few miles beyond the city limits. It was only a couple minutes before I turned off on to Moose Mountain Road and not a half mile past that before I found where I was heading. The abandoned fire tower road was no more than a narrow dirt lane now. Almost overrun by the forest, low bushes reached out brushing the sides of the car. Rough and bumpy the climb, I chuckled vindictively as she bounced around inside the car, finally forced to take a more traditional position in the passenger seat while I dashed up the dark steep mountain road as fast as the Vanquish would take us.

When I reached the summit, I pulled over beside the dilapidated tower and turned off the motor.

"Do with me what you will," I announced, pulling her across the console and into my arms.

Her lush lips leaped at my words, crushing themselves to me.

_Oh, yes… _the snake jerked with excitement. How many hours had it been?

Lips welded to mine, she hitched up her skirt again, twisting and wiggling as she struggled to sit astride me in the confines of the small bucket seat.

"We're leaving on the dress." I murmured into her mouth

"Why?" she asked pulling back brows lifted.

"Because I really like it." My thumb rubbed back and forth against the nipple hidden beneath the blue fabric standing it to attention in spite the lack of direct contact. "Don't worry, I take good care of it."

Unfortunately as I pulled off her jacket, it became clear that this vehicle was not nearly as accommodating as her Chevy. I felt trapped. There was only so much that I could do to help. The seat was already back as far as it would go. I glanced beside us considering our options. Surely, it would be uncomfortable to lay her across the armrest.

The situation soon became farcical. In the cramped space, she did manage to squeeze her knees on both sides of me just as she had been a few weeks ago in her truck, but there was so much less room. She hit her head on the sunroof, bumped her elbow on the window, honked the horn with her rear end. She soon became frustrated, unable to get to me the way she apparently wanted to.

"Damn it." She froze panting as the leather seat began to tear.

"It's okay. I can order a new one."

"I'm sorry." Her warm sweaty forehead rested against mine, the heart beating into my chest slowed down, her urgency beginning to wane.

"Love, let's go home." I sighed in defeat.

"No." Her pulse ticked back up.

"This is not going to work."

"Yes it will. We just might have to get creative."

She looked down at me thinking, and then smiled. Cold night air blew into the car as she threw open the driver's side door wide.

I leaned out to reached for the handle. "There's a perfectly good bed waiting for us at home."

"I have waited all stinking night long Edward," her steely glare froze my hand in mid air as she placed one bare foot out into the tall grass beside the car. "I am not waiting any more."

"But it's cold outside." There was not much conviction in my voice as I held her against my chest with one arm, trying to get her knee and pull her leg back in with the other.

"I didn't know you were so delicate." She whispered against my ear, sending a shiver through me.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Be reasonable."

With her foot still planted outside, she managed to free enough space between us to get her fingers on my fly.

"Just… just another… um… hour." I found it difficult to speak with her hot breath on my neck and her lips wrapped around my lobe. "You'll freeze."

There was a pause in her torment as she contemplated. "I have an idea." She sat up on my lap and put her jacket back on. "How much gas is in the tank?"

"Three quarters full" I replied slowly, unable to comprehend where she was heading with her question. She leaned back into me nibbling my ear.

"Turn the motor back on." she ordered.

Already confused, her hand slid into my boxer briefs gripping me and I could no longer remember why I was even arguing with her. Then her mouth was back on mine as she slipped the rest of her body out of the car.

"Put the emergency brake on too Edward." She grinned mischievous, breaking away to stand. "Safety first."

Her plan became clear. It was only a moment to restart the engine and pull the parking brake lever before I was out of the car and lifting her from the ground. Her bare feet, already dirty with bracken clung to my torso as I made my way to the front of the car to lie her on the hood.

**oooOoooOoooOooo**

The moon was completely hidden above the canopy of leaves. The parking lights glowed dimly giving me only enough light to see him. My feet spread wide braced against the cold bumper, but my back was toasty warm lying against the curved hood of the Vanquish its motor purring beneath me. It felt strange but good, this tingling sensation brought on by the gently trembling car and I thought vaguely this must be what its like to be on one of those vibrating beds.

Clearly needy himself, Edward leaned over the hood and went straight to business, his mouth on my throat, and his fingers under my dress. My throbbing core already aching with need, tightened in anticipation.

"Throwing you unmentionables at me" he breathed against me husky and amused stroking my sex. "You are such a naughty girl."

"A desperate cry for attention from a sex starved wife."

"Do you need attention?" He velvet voice crooned seductive.

"Yes."

His mouth fell on mine hungry and wanting, sucking my tongue into his mouth. I shirked my arms out of the restraining sleeves of my jacket. Whether it was him, or the warm vibrating engine beneath me, I was getting hot. Now fully free, my one hand clung into his hair keeping me from sliding down, the other clawed at the muscles of his stone back beneath his open shirt.

"Do you know how crazy you get me?" he now growled against my lips as he teased and played inside me.

"Show me." I reached down between us into his open jeans and wrapped my greedy fingers around his erection.

Eyes wild, his body shuddered on top of me and he snarled. I gasped as instantly, the full weight of his chest pressed against me. My feet slid off the slick bumper. The hiked up blue fabric of my skirt squashed between us. My wrist was in an iron fetter above my head. The hand inside me pulled out and parted my swollen wet folds and he slammed himself into me hard.

"Yes!" I cried finally filled.

"Damn it." He hissed as he steadied himself, staring down at me with fear. But as I went to assure I was fine he silenced me with his mouth and he began to move.

It was incredible, the added sensation below me. Edward released my wayward hand and planted his palm on the hood under my armpit. My dangling feet lifted and hugged his torso as he rocked his hips slow and forceful into my quivering body. I clawed at his ribs, dug my talons into his hair. The sound of the motor buzzed in my head, becoming part of this feral and erotic act. My back arched off the hood, centering the vibration to the base of my spine.

"Oh Edward…"

It all became too much. I was on the verge of exploding. Edward snarled again and I felt his hand rip from my breast and slam against the hood.

"Don't hurt the car!" I screamed as I came.

Caught up in the moment, I was not fully aware of what happen next. I slid down the hood. Somehow, my legs were now hooked in his elbows. Edward was standing straight up, lifting the lower half of my body off the car. With renewed energy, he thrust into me again and again. I had not reached the bottom of this carnal rollercoaster and here I was, climbing to the top once more. I stared into his feral eyes and my legs began to shake, as did his fists. His head snapped back in a primal roar and I exploded again, orgasmic tears blinding me to his face as he too threw himself down this savage path with me.

My brain was foggy. I was now cradled on his lap in the passenger seat. Had I passed out?

"Are you alright?" Edwards' anxious voice broke into my haze.

"Fine..." my mind cleared and I began to focus.

"Welcome back." He smiled down at me with concern in his eyes.

"Damn…That was… holy fu… shit." I blushed embarrassed for my foul mouth.

"People that use profanity do so because they lack the proper vocabulary to express their thoughts and feelings." he quipped.

"That sounds about right."

He laughed relieved kissing my forehead. I jerked, apparently still reeling in his arms.

"You made me faint." and curse like a sailor.

"Again." His grin was triumphant and smug. Then he rolled his eyes. "Don't hurt the car?"

"I like the car." I sighed, kissing the corner of his jaw.

"I like the car too." His strong arms pulled me in tighter. "But I love you."

**Hope you all enjoyed.  
**

**And as always, please feel to review. I loved to know what you thought. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I thought I was done with this story... really, I was. Then an idea popped into my head. It was brief little blurb and I considered just adding it on to chapter four. But I really liked the idea and I knew no one would know it was there. I fleshed it out a bit and added citrus and here it is.**

A dream of making love to Edward on top of the glass sunroof of his car faded away as I felt my mind pull toward consciousness.

"Good morning Mrs. Cullen," Edward breathed into my hair.

"Is it still?" I mumbled groggily, inhaling the sweet scent coming from his throat.

"11:15."

I swallowed, tasting the long night of sleep in my mouth. "I feel like I slept for three days."

"Ten hours." I could hear the satisfied smile in his voice.

"You sound pleased Mr. Cullen." Tucked against his side, my eyes fluttered open as my naked leg, already curled around his thigh, rubbed like a satisfied cat against his bare skin.

"Very." His granite arms constricted gently.

I yawned and stretched inside his embrace. "Do you know how much I love waking up with you?"

"I know how much I love watching you wake up with me."

I sighed happily, wiggling up higher onto his chest to attempt to give him my standard pre-toothbrush smooch on the corner of his mouth. Fully aware of this morning ritual, Edward thwarted my evasiveness, shifting just at the right second. Heat rose into my cheeks as I planted my sour mouth against his straight on. I turned quickly away self-conscious and buried myself in his pillow.

"You're being absurd, Love."

"I have morning breath." I muttered into the cotton and down.

Edward took my face firmly into his hands turning it back toward him. He stared ardently into my eyes, bringing my tightly closed lips to his. My heart began to stutter. I had to concentrate to breathe through my nose. It was so unfair. Trapped and staggered he softly brushed his lips against my tight mouth as he spoke.

"I love your morning breath." It was just a feather light vibration against them, but it sent shockwaves straight into my soul.

"Edward…" My heart now thumping wildly, I tried to admonish him out of the corner of my mouth, powerless to look away from his molten gaze, let alone turn my caged head.

"I love your afternoon breath… your evening breath…" his velvet voice continued, weaving it magic spell.

He paused for a moment rubbing his nose against mine. Gritting my teeth, I began to tremble against him, slightly angry and ridiculously thrilled at the same time.

"…your extra onions on your hot dog breath."

_His golden eyes… his smell… the anticipated taste… the memory of my dream…  
_

_To hell with my toothbrush… _

Dizzy, my lips parted, surrendering to his delicious torture. The relief was sublime. The tip of his cool moist tongue swept back and forth between my teeth, teasing them further open. Sweet breath blew down my throat settling in the muscles of my stomach as his tongue played inside my mouth. Triumphantly, his hands released my face, sliding down my arms to my waist. I crawled up higher, straddling him between my knees and began to bear down, tugging on his lower lip.

"You win." I panted, tearing myself from his flavor only to suck in a lungful of necessary air.

"I like to win." He tipped my chin up and feasted on my throat.

Edward's body sang in victory as he rolled us over slowly.

"It's Saturday," he crooned, mouth back on top of mine. "We have nothing to do and nowhere to go."

"Laundry…" I moaned.

"Later…"

"I never said I wanted to do it now."

The dream still fresh in my mind, my knees lifted higher up his torso rocking my pelvis into his full on erection. " Happy to see me, are you?"

"You sounded like you were having a very interesting time before you woke."

I could not find it in me to be embarrassed. The pulse in my loins pounded in my ears. Bracing on one elbow, his free hand slipped down to my breast as he thrust against the outside of my now aching womb. It would only be a heartbeat before he was inside me.

He was out of bed so fast that I gasped, his comforting weight vanishing from atop me. My mouth hung open stunned as in another blurred movement, his jeans from last night were back on.

"Someone's coming up the road." He murmured, throwing me his shirt.

"Who?" I whispered back, clutching it, panic twisting my stomach.

"I can't tell…"

My worst nightmares deluged my brain. Edward... ash at my feet, a dark purple cloud engulfing me as monsters tore into my flesh.

Edward cocked is head to the side. "He's listening to the radio."

…_the radio?_ Monsters don't listen to the radio.

He concentrated a second longer and then his tense body moderately relaxed.

"Human." Edward looked down and tried to give me a reassuring smile. It did not reach his eyes.

"What does he want?" I asked as I sat up and swung my legs over the bed still shocked and terrified, sticking my arms through the sleeves of his button down.

"I don't..." He answered distracted, walking slowly over to the dresser to get a sweatshirt and pulled it over his head. "I'm pretty sure he's in some kind of truck."

Edward's eyes shifted slightly from side to side. It looked almost as if he was trying to see past the outer edges of the thoughts he was reading.

"He's driving at a snail's pace… not sure if he's on the right road… looking at directions on a manifest… ah, there we go… Fed Ex."

Hands still trembling, I began to button Edward's shirt, my heart finally getting back to its normal rhythm. _False alarm… false alarm,_ I chanted in my mind determined to at least appear calm.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." Edward took me into his arms and caressed my hair. "I over reacted."

"I wasn't frightened." I lied.

"It's okay, I'm sorry." He rocked us gently, apologizing again, still clearly stressed. "I was just being… well, me."

"Don't worry," Standing up on my toes and kissing the edge of his taunt jaw, I tried to distract both of us from our all too scary thoughts. "I'll keep you anyway."

It seemed to work. His fingers traced slowly down my spine, past the hem of my borrowed shirt, cupping my bare backside.

"You might want to put a little more on, Love." His face bent toward mine and he kissed my nose.

"Huh?" Edward's breath washed over my face erasing the terror that had gripped me only moments ago.

"It's sunny out." He glanced pointedly out the bright window. The slightly sad and bitter edge of his velvet voice brought me back into the here and now. "You're going to have to get the door."

I held him tight wishing not that he were human, but that he would just be okay with who he was. It was rare anymore that I saw this hidden side of him, but our imagined crisis had brought down his defenses.

"Do I have time to pee?"

"Yes." He smiled weakly. "I'll get you a pair of sweats.

"Shorts are fine." I said tearing myself away from him and headed to the bathroom.

Shades drawn, Edward looked on too quietly from living room while I answered the door. His face appeared calm, but I knew better. Even from that distance, I could feel his tension, remnants of the fear that was now creeping back into my mind again as well. Making small talk with the driver, I took my time signing the invoice so we could both pull it together. The fit man in his black and silver uniform wheeled in two boxes, one smaller than the other just inside the house. He glanced over at Edward surprised to see him there, then bid us both a good afternoon. As soon as the door closed behind him, Edward was at my side and carrying the cardboard containers into the kitchen.

"Alice." We said together, both looking down at the packing slip at the same time and ignoring the elephant in the room.

Edward's thumbnail sliced through the wide brown tape of the larger box with one swift motion. I opened it and looked in. On the top of a pile of tissue was a note

_A day late… C'est la vie_

_Love, Your favorite sister-in-law.  
_

I removed the first sheet of tissue to reveal a pair of perfectly ordinary Levis hearing her snickering in my head but unable to find any humor myself.

There was much more below the jeans. Between each layer of tissue laid a dress. Edward sat stone still and watched as I removed a red one, a violet one, and two in different shades of deep blue holding them against my body, then flopping them over the chair. Some slightly shorter than the others, two had cap sleeves and one had an asymmetrical neckline. The purple one had a coordinating jacket.

Hmm, I speculated as I considered the growing pile. They were all different, yet still the same, all variations of the one I wore last night, expensive linen, tight bodices and flared skirts. It must be what I look best in, or perhaps she just knows what he likes.

"She must have decided you finally capitulated." He said wryly.

_Had I capitulated… succumbed to her evil plan to get me out of my jeans and tee shirts and into dresses on a regular basis?_ Already in an extremely foul mood from our false alarm, I found the idea annoying.

Then I thought about the look in Edward's eyes yesterday in this very kitchen

…and in the dark stairwell at school…

…and last night on his car.

Yes, yes I had.

At the very bottom was short black one, silky, sleek and missing its back, totally different from the rest and completely inappropriate for school. It looked like something a grownup... oops, I am a grown up... a person would wear to a night club or maybe a cocktail party... and another note.

_Une jeune fille peut espérer…_

What the heck does that mean?

"A girl can hope…" A true smile finally broke through his calm mask as he answered my unspoken thoughts.

I carefully folded everything and put it back into the box then walked over to Edward and sat on his lap.

"Aren't you going to open the other one?"

"Later." I already knew what was in it: shoes, bags, maybe a couple of matching hair things. "I think we have unfinished business to attend to Mr. Cullen."

**oooOoooOoooOooo**

I was on my feet instantly with her in my arms, flying up to the sanctuary of our bedroom. I was frantic for the calming effect of her touch, desperate to be inside her, just to prove that we were both still alive.

For the last forty three minutes, I could not shake the image out of my head… the terror in her brown eyes as she stood surrounded by monsters… me helpless, pinned down by Jane… her silent scream as Aro smiled widely, then tore into her throat.

Her chocolate eyes were wide with concern, brimming with questions she would not ask. I sat her down on her feet at the side of the bed.

"You have no idea…" I choked out unable to finish.

"Yes I do."

As if I was a child, she kissed my cheek and began to undress me. In so many ways, she was stronger than I was. I reached out to her soft fragile body, taking one button at a time, mesmerized by the sight of my shirt descending off her shoulder and the sound of it fluttering to the floor. Captured in her steady gaze, my fingers slipped between the elastic waistband of her little cotton shorts and her warm skin, sliding them to her ankles then lifting her out of them.

Oh, this was what I needed, my reassurance… her heart beating against my own. Her legs lifted and embraced my waist. I turned back the rumpled comforter and laid us both down on to the bed.

Side by side, our limbs tangled together inside the trapped heat of the blankets. Her mouth was fierce and urgent on my stone lips. Was it only this morning that we had begun this so playfully?

We were not playing now. This was a healing balm. She pushed at my shoulder and I rolled onto my back, dragging her along for the ride.

She moved against me with a passion that was disarming, her scorching lips glued to mine. Back and forth over my stone shaft, the outside of her womb rocked slowly, lovingly, ministering to me. Then she lifted her hips and positioned herself on the tip. I took her by the waist and pushed my erection up into her wet folds. We both moaned with relief.

We made love as one, moving together in tandem. But as her body began to sweat and her needs grew stronger, she went to lift off my chest.

"No." I pleaded. I could not endure her heart that far away. Still inside her, I rolled us over. Cocooned in her arms and legs, I thrust my self over and over. She clung to me as if I held her onto the planet, trembling and shaking as tears began to run down her face.

"I love you so much." I whispered once more against her mouth. Sobs rupture from her as her body began to convulse beneath me as she came. Wrenching my hands away, I would have cried too if I could as my own orgasm seized control of me, blinding me in both pleasure and pain.

We held each other in our own little world under the blankets watching the shadows move across the room.

"Laundry…" she murmured finally and tried to get up.

"What about it?" I smiled slyly, tucking her safely back against me.

"I have to get jeans started."

"No you don't." I grinned wider, kissing her forehead.

"Just because Alice sent me a new pair doesn't mean…"

I pulled her impossibly closer. "They're already out on the line."

"Edward," I pursed my lips as she scowled at me. She didn't like when I washed clothes.

I began to snicker. I don't know why. I just couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Stop that." She growled.

I began to laugh in earnest now, and then she started to laugh too. We went on like that for I don't know how long, But as the heady feeling eventually began to fade, my thoughts turned back to my waking nightmare.

"I was scared." I confessed.

"So was I."

She took my hand in hers and kissed my palm. I closed my eyes as she placed it over her heart.

"It will be alright." She whispered fervently. "I know it will."

**Thank you for reading. My original idea was just to get the clothes from Alice, but it evolved. Edward never stops worrying, but I think Bella lives in denial. I figured a small dose of reality was good for her.**

**The next part of this series is called "Why Didn't I Think of an Electric Blanket" Click on my profile to find it.  
**

**And as always, I look forward to reading your thoughts in the review section.  
**


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